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Our SkiSailor

badger

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
While sitting here working ---I work from home---after reading this news on this website, I turned to view a photo taken of DH at Big Sky the day he skied with Laura. It occurred to me that she had taken it. He is holding her pink K2 skis. :( And it is the only decent photograph I have of him on a ski hill.
 

bsskier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I read this news last night with a heavy heart.

A few years before I skied with Laura, I got into some challenging terrain beyond my pay grade in Big Sky’s Dakota Territory. The incident frightened me so much I wouldn’t go back to the area. After joining this forum, I noted Laura’s incredible, invaluable posts and asked if we could ski together in Big Sky. Specifically, I asked if she’d be willing to take me to Dakota Territory to help me find the area of my incident and “slay my dragon”. As she and I rode the Dakota lift up, I began to cry, feeling safe enough with her to admit that my fear was so incredibly powerful, it paralyzed my skiing. I never knew I was sitting next to someone who’d been fighting fear daily for much more legitimate reasons than my own. Laura was kind, patient and skied like a beautiful warrior. I remember her skiing in front of me, keeping my mind occupied with tips on how to ski through the crud, and stopping every so often to look up at me and ask “Does this area look familiar? Is this where it happened?” When she found the location of the incident, and I recognized it as such, I let out the loudest wail of relief and happiness, but the smile on Laura’s face is one I will never forget. This journey wasn’t about skiing, It was a deep dive into eradicating fear for me, maybe for her too. We skied the remainder of the day in places I never thought possible. It was the most magical day of skiing of my life, thanks only to Laura.

I ran into her in Big Sky’s new Vista Hall back in January. She was so excited to meet up with Diva’s in Jackson Hole the following week. When I returned to Big Sky in February, we tried to get together for a nice Philly style east coast style Italian dinner I was hosting, but schedules never aligned. Just last Wednesday at 1:14pm, I sent her a private message asking how she was doing and letting her know I was thinking of her. I am eternally grateful to Laura and I know she knows that. The world has lost an extraordinary woman who smiled while slaying dragons. RIP friend.
 

ski diva

Administrator
Staff member
I read this news last night with a heavy heart.

A few years before I skied with Laura, I got into some challenging terrain beyond my pay grade in Big Sky’s Dakota Territory. The incident frightened me so much I wouldn’t go back to the area. After joining this forum, I noted Laura’s incredible, invaluable posts and asked if we could ski together in Big Sky. Specifically, I asked if she’d be willing to take me to Dakota Territory to help me find the area of my incident and “slay my dragon”. As she and I rode the Dakota lift up, I began to cry, feeling safe enough with her to admit that my fear was so incredibly powerful, it paralyzed my skiing. I never knew I was sitting next to someone who’d been fighting fear daily for much more legitimate reasons than my own. Laura was kind, patient and skied like a beautiful warrior. I remember her skiing in front of me, keeping my mind occupied with tips on how to ski through the crud, and stopping every so often to look up at me and ask “Does this area look familiar? Is this where it happened?” When she found the location of the incident, and I recognized it as such, I let out the loudest wail of relief and happiness, but the smile on Laura’s face is one I will never forget. This journey wasn’t about skiing, It was a deep dive into eradicating fear for me, maybe for her too. We skied the remainder of the day in places I never thought possible. It was the most magical day of skiing of my life, thanks only to Laura.

I ran into her in Big Sky’s new Vista Hall back in January. She was so excited to meet up with Diva’s in Jackson Hole the following week. When I returned to Big Sky in February, we tried to get together for a nice Philly style east coast style Italian dinner I was hosting, but schedules never aligned. Just last Wednesday at 1:14pm, I sent her a private message asking how she was doing and letting her know I was thinking of her. I am eternally grateful to Laura and I know she knows that. The world has lost an extraordinary woman who smiled while slaying dragons. RIP friend.

Beautiful. And so Laura.
 

Ursula

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I am so glad Laura had the courage and determination to follow her dreams. What a great example she set.

And @Ursula, thank you for offering Laura the friendship and mentorship to reach her dreams. Always know the difference you made in her life.
Thank you! Yes, Laura and I spent a lot of time together - driving to and from the mountain . And trust me, there was not ONE day the conversation was NOT about skiing ! She always said I should get paid for “clinicing”! She was relentless in her pursuit of knowledge about movement analysis, physics, etc about skiing !!!
I will miss her!
 

Olesya Chornoguz

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
These are devastating news. I will miss Laura a lot, she is an amazing person in so many ways. I met her on a Diva West trip to Big Sky back in 2015. I learned that she was sick then and remember emailing her back and forth with information and explanation about cancer immunotherapy clinical trials because I worked in cancer research and wanted to help her make sure she looked into all possible options. I also visited her after her surgery at Hopkins that same year. I was working on my post-doctoral fellowship at that time and my lab was right across the street from the hospital she was in. She was so strong, optimistic and full of life. I wish I skied with her more and spent more time with her in person.
 

SallyCat

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
This is such awful news and I'm sorry I never had the chance to meet Laura. She was one of the voices on TSD that made/make this forum so welcoming and positive and helpful; an expert skier, she was incredibly generous, thoughtful, and patient with questions from those of us struggling to improve. I valued every one of her posts and will miss her voice terribly.
 

Divegirl

Angel Diva
My condolences to all who knew SkiSailor during her life. I never knew SkiSailor in person but did “know” her here through her postings. Today I learned we shared a unique connection so bear with my story. Thanks to @vanhoskier for confirming my suspicions.

In the late 80s DH purchased a sailboat named Gemini, a Sabre 28. He re-christened her Scheherazade after one of his favorite pieces of classical music. I met him when one of his cousins invited me sailing one evening and I ended up sailing with him for 3 yrs. before we started dating and eventually married. We spent many wonderful days on Scheherazade sailing around Boston Harbor, the Harbor Islands and the lighthouses in Boston Harbor while listening to the Red Sox on the radio. We also did some PHRF racing with her. I loved polishing her teak and since I’m short, it was my job to sand and paint her hull. I was a blue raccoon for weeks.

In the early 90s, we had to sell her; we weren’t using her enough and had a move to DC on the horizon. She was sold through a yacht broker so we never knew the new buyer other than Scheherazade had gone to the upper/northern Chesapeake and the new owner would keep her name. A post about SkiSailor and her boat by vanhoskier caught my eye this morning and I confirmed with her that SkiSailor’s beloved Scheherazade was indeed our beloved Scheherazade. SkiSailor had bought our boat. We are so glad Scheherazade went to a good home and was loved. I wish I could have met SkiSailor.

Also for those of you who don’t know – my name is also Laura
 

ski diva

Administrator
Staff member

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